What do we know about Feet?

ARE you wearing the wrong shoe size? Unless you had your size checked in the past year (what do you mean not since you were seven, buying Magic Steps shoes in Clarks?) then you might be, according to new studies. In a study of 2,000 people, by the British College of Podiatry, it was revealed that a third of men and more than half of women have worn shoes that don't fit properly.Click on this text to edit it.

Aside from squeezing our feet into ill-fitting (though probably beautiful) shoes - which can permanently alter the shape, and therefore the size, of our feet - reports suggest that feet can change size for a variety of reasons. From injuries to pregnancy, changes that may seem subtle - no more than a few millimetres - can amount to an entirely new shoe size.

And it's not just vertiginous stilettos that are causing problems. Ballet flats are "just as bad as wearing high heels," Alex Austin of Sole and Beauty Preston podiatrist told the author "It's like walking around barefoot." She told the Philip that shoes are to blame for the problems of as many as 40 per cent of her male patients and 60 per cent of female.

Online shopping receives a measure of the blame for shoppers buying the wrong size, since it dispenses with one-to-one size fitting, but the truth is that women tend to buy the size that they "know" they are, without asking a sales assistant whether it fits properly.

"It's the client's responsibility, for sure, that they get the right size," Alex added. "They live with the consequences. Regardless of what size you usually take, make sure you try all possible sizes - half size up or down - to make sure you find the perfect fit."